Are the MMO effectively bankrupting fishermen around the coast!

March quotas for an under 10m boat on the south coast in ICES VIID:
Quotas - sent out in an email last thing on Friday for March - 

100 Kg   - Plaice, 
150 Kg   -  Cod, 
750 Kg   -  Dover what's not there!

This is the reaction of just one fisherman faced with the quoat allocation for March - along with a brief explanation about how much of each fish is on the grounds:

"Skate (whole weight) 250 Kg - we are getting paid about £1-£2 a kilo - so average will be a total of £375.

Sole - 750 Kg - just brilliant at present there is hardly anything on the ground! How many plaice are we going to trawl through to get that much sole! The ground is full of it, one tow 10 minute will get 100 Kg of plaice and about 3 soles.

Plaice - 100 kilo - £1.10 per kilo - £110
Cod - 150 kilos - £1 a kilo- £150
Total - £635 predicted income

This is not even enough to cover costs.

I don't even know what to say I am totally speechless!
Basically this month we can't even fish, this is a sheer disaster, you will probably bankrupt me and my husband this year, what a round of applause!"

The fishermen of North Devon who, like the boat above, rely an a single species for certain seasons suffered hugely as a result of the MMO quota cuts at the end of last year - seems we have made an early start this year to bankrupting more of the fleet! 

Watch the TV report below - which includes some commentary from Nina Shrank who led the Nutfa/Greenpeace Coastal Champs launch party on Saturday in Porthleven.